Monday, September 17, 2012

"Whose Innocence?: Thoughts on Copts, Muslims, and a World Gone (Temporally) Mad" by Anthony Shenoda"

"When I first watched the "film," or the trailer, or whatever it is, I
had little doubt that Copts, or someone quite familiar with Coptic
historical meta-narratives, were behind it. Many of the slanderous
comments against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in the film are made by
all manner of right-wing Christians and Jews, but the Coptic give-away
in that 13 minute clip was the bit about the Egyptians believing in one
god some five thousand years ago. This is a typical modern move on the
part of many Copts and the nineteenth century Orientalist scholarship of
things Coptic from which these narratives have frequently drawn
authority. If, once upon a time, Egyptian Christians were engaged in the
destruction of a pagan Egypt, now they are concerned to show how
Christianity in Egypt was the natural evolution of an Egyptian
religiosity that already hinted at a triune godhead, resurrection of the
dead, and eternal life. This largely has to do with a desire on the
part of many Copts to secure their national and Egyptian territorial
belonging. Other scenes in the available clip also supported my thinking
that Copts might be involved: The scene in which the doctor is
educating his daughters (?) on the ways of Muslims shows an image of
Jesus that is extremely popular among Copts, an image that I have not
seen popularly among other Christians. And the Syrian monk, Bahaira, who
makes a later appearance, is an indication that whoever made this
“film” 1) has a pretty good sense of contemporary Coptic monastic garb
and 2) is aware of the very commonly held view among Copts (but also the
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians that I have met) that the Quran was
written by a (fallen) Christian monk. People who are aware of Islamic
history know that Muhammad had met a Syrian monk called Bahaira. Many
Copts hold that this monk is the “true” author of the Quran."

The Mossad-did-it theories are worse than useless. There is absolutely no evidence that the Mossad was involved. The Mossad thesis is connected to the idea that the Muslim unrest is supposed to hurt Obama's reelection. On the contrary, Obama will be able to have all the electoral advantages of having a war - Americans love wars, and love to vote for Presidents waging them - without actually having to wage a war. He just needs to drone kill some Libyans and then announce he's killed more American enemies, just like he killed Osama. Instant hero. Of course, once that happens the usual suspects will announce that this proves that the Mossad was behind the film, as they were really trying to help Obama get reelected!

"Whose Innocence?: Thoughts on Copts, Muslims, and a World Gone (Temporally) Mad" by Anthony Shenoda"

"When I first watched the "film," or the trailer, or whatever it is, I
had little doubt that Copts, or someone quite familiar with Coptic
historical meta-narratives, were behind it. Many of the slanderous
comments against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in the film are made by
all manner of right-wing Christians and Jews, but the Coptic give-away
in that 13 minute clip was the bit about the Egyptians believing in one
god some five thousand years ago. This is a typical modern move on the
part of many Copts and the nineteenth century Orientalist scholarship of
things Coptic from which these narratives have frequently drawn
authority. If, once upon a time, Egyptian Christians were engaged in the
destruction of a pagan Egypt, now they are concerned to show how
Christianity in Egypt was the natural evolution of an Egyptian
religiosity that already hinted at a triune godhead, resurrection of the
dead, and eternal life. This largely has to do with a desire on the
part of many Copts to secure their national and Egyptian territorial
belonging. Other scenes in the available clip also supported my thinking
that Copts might be involved: The scene in which the doctor is
educating his daughters (?) on the ways of Muslims shows an image of
Jesus that is extremely popular among Copts, an image that I have not
seen popularly among other Christians. And the Syrian monk, Bahaira, who
makes a later appearance, is an indication that whoever made this
“film” 1) has a pretty good sense of contemporary Coptic monastic garb
and 2) is aware of the very commonly held view among Copts (but also the
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians that I have met) that the Quran was
written by a (fallen) Christian monk. People who are aware of Islamic
history know that Muhammad had met a Syrian monk called Bahaira. Many
Copts hold that this monk is the “true” author of the Quran."

The Mossad-did-it theories are worse than useless. There is absolutely no evidence that the Mossad was involved. The Mossad thesis is connected to the idea that the Muslim unrest is supposed to hurt Obama's reelection. On the contrary, Obama will be able to have all the electoral advantages of having a war - Americans love wars, and love to vote for Presidents waging them - without actually having to wage a war. He just needs to drone kill some Libyans and then announce he's killed more American enemies, just like he killed Osama. Instant hero. Of course, once that happens the usual suspects will announce that this proves that the Mossad was behind the film, as they were really trying to help Obama get reelected!